Oh dear. A bee pal of mine has sold his home on 10 acres and is moving to a "gated community", that he some kind of subdivision or something. He wanted to know if I wanted all of his bee equipment, he no longer kept bees because he had an injury and couldn't work them and they all perished. I know this man well, and he has never had any disease within his colonies, so I felt safe to take all his stuff. He had a mountain of stuff, and my Husband and I picked it all up the Sunday before last. It was quite the job.

He had quite the wax moth issue in his shed, so I shook out most of the bad stuff at his place and took the equipment to mine and froze all the frames, cleaned the boxes and so on and so on. There was some rather unusual stuff that came here. Amongst them was a frame within one of the boxes that I would love to have someone identify what it is used for, you will see in the pictures.

I also obtained a galvanized old, old, old, old, old, how old must this extractor be? No clue, but I am sure older than time itself. I need to know if galvanized steel extractors are safe to use for honey extraction. I have no clue, maybe some of my forum friends have old extractors that are not composed of stainless steel. Please tell me your story and advice.

The boxes that now look like brand new, hee, amazing what a good quality, outdoor paint can do.....

This is a weird frame, know what it does? Please be clear with identification

Beautiful day in this wonderful life. Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

those little frames are used for queen rearing. you remove them from the starter hive and put them into mating nucs....little mating nucs. it enables the mating nucs to be very small so that it doesn't take much bee resources to keep them going.

way to go, cindi. i have gotten so much of my stuff this way. even when you end up with some stuff you don't think you'll use, you still get some great buys!!

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

Hey, great score! I spent about 8 hours this weekend putting together and painting 3 supers and a brood box and frames, well not painting the frames that is. I didn't realize how time consuming it is. Next time I will look for used equipment and save some $ too!

Cindi,Yea for you. Yep those are special frames for mating nucs. Just google mating nucs and you will see. I have been doing lots of research on the queen rearing and mating nucs etc. No one around here that I can find is selling queens and/or nucs.. What a great find, like christmas. In my new place a guy up the street gave me an OB hive that has just been a blast. Like I said "Christmas" Congrats. F

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Don't be yourself, "Be the man you would want your daughters to marry!!"

Great serendipity Cindi. Any fully glavanized extractor is probably pre-WWII. After that the extractors were made of stainless steel but a few small outfits still made galvanizws extractors until the mid-1950's. I once had a single frame galvanized extractor but I sold it and the hives I had when I went into the Army in 1968.

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Looks like you got a GREAT deal Cindi! The stainless steel looking thingy on the chair in the first photo, was that part of the equipment?

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Everyone said it couldn't be done. But he with a chuckle replied, "I won't be one to say it is so, until I give it a try." So he buckled right in with a trace of a grin. If he had a worry he hid it and he started to sing as he tackled that thing that couldn't be done, and he did it. (unknown)

Aha!!! Moonshae and Frantz, gotcha. That queen mating would make sense because I hve this teeny tiny little box that held a frame in it the size of the ones in the picture, I just never put two and two together. That little box has a teeeny tiny place for sugar syrup to be placed, it still had some sweet liquid in it when I cleaned it all out. Those teeny tiny little frames would fit into this little box for sure.

qa33010. Silly.....that can of paint is a good quality outdoor paint I use to paint the hives. They all look almost like brand new now, hee, hee. I like to use a good quality paint because it covers so nicely and is very nice to paint with. A gallon goes a long, long ways.

About the extractor. Hmmm. I'm gonna take a picture. I turned the handle on it the other day and I couldn't believe how easy this machine began to spin, and it spinned and spinned and spinned. But it is a monster machine, it is so ding dang big and heavy. It has a homemade wooden stand too. Eeeks!!! If I have to paint it and clean it up like that, that is gonna be a big job. I am not too sure how I will get inside, but maybe I can fit, hee, hee. There is deep thought that is going to have to go into this extractor thing, and I can't think about it right now, too many other things on my mind, like my bees that are going out of their minds storing nectar!!! Hee, hee.

Couldn't the extractor just be cleaned out really well instead of painted? Isn't steel, steel? I have a steel carving knife that is not stainless, and I think it doesn't hurt us. If it is not painted and/or stainless, can it be poisonous or leach metal into the honey? Comments further required? I have no clue about this, so thoughts would be really appreciated.Ya'll have a most wonderful and beautiful day, this is a life to love livin'. Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

Man I gotta find my glasses and stop using my wifes or my late father-in-laws off the rack readers!

Cindi I did find some reference in the ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture 40th edition (1990), pg 237. Talks about how stainless steel '...is practically insoluble in most food products, does not cause off flavor, cleans easily,...' and that it is an acidic food. Though it doesn't have a large amount of acid the pH level is between 3 and 4.5.

It goes on with an experiment done at Penn. State by the late Professor E. J. Anderson with various metals and the reactions, though not the complete results. Galvanized was not recommended for extracting or storage equipment. That's why the paint came out for those that still have galvanized equipment...or to make some more $$$. LOL.

Hope this helps. I couldn't find anything in the Hive and the Honey Bee 1966 reprint of the 1963 revised or the 2003 printing of the 1992 revised. :?

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Everyone said it couldn't be done. But he with a chuckle replied, "I won't be one to say it is so, until I give it a try." So he buckled right in with a trace of a grin. If he had a worry he hid it and he started to sing as he tackled that thing that couldn't be done, and he did it. (unknown)

qa33010. Thank you for the response, I will now be doing that further research myself to find out about the paint to fix up this old extractor. It is a beauty of a thing, I love old stuff and I turned that crank on it again yesterday when I took the picture of it. It turned so easily compared to others that I have used. I would like to save its life, so a paint thinkin' I will go. I think it will be an enormous undertaking, but I have my Husband at my side (I hope). He will help me figure it out. Have that most beautiful, wonderful day, we be lovin' this life we live. Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

Here is a picture of this extractor that is galvanized, yes, I think it is ancient. I think it is going to be a lot of work to try and get it safe for extracting honey out of, but I think we can do it. Beautiful day in this beautiful life. Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

That looks like a depression era extractor. Very reliable and once painted with food grade paint should last a long time. One thing I'd do, if it were me, is remove the handle and install a router in its place. A router ramp switch would also allow you to adjust the speed up and down.

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Life is a school. What have you learned? :brian: The greatest danger to our society is apathy, vote in every election!

Brian, my ol' pal...you must baby me along here, as you have done so many times with your words of wisdom. I have no clue what a router is, but I will ask my dear Husband, he will probably know, so that part is OK. But what I would love for you to help me out intricately with is: how do I go about painting this monster machine? I would imagine the working mechanisms would have to be removed and the baskets painted as well. But do I have to prepare the metal to accept the paint. What if the paint came off in the honey? Baby me along, bro', have that most beautiful and wonderful day, we all love our lives. Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

Brian, my ol' pal...you must baby me along here, as you have done so many times with your words of wisdom. I have no clue what a router is, but I will ask my dear Husband, he will probably know, so that part is OK. But what I would love for you to help me out intricately with is: how do I go about painting this monster machine? I would imagine the working mechanisms would have to be removed and the baskets painted as well. But do I have to prepare the metal to accept the paint. What if the paint came off in the honey? Baby me along, bro', have that most beautiful and wonderful day, we all love our lives. Cindi

Take your extractor to someone who can sand blast it. Have them give it a once over then repaint the inside with food grade latex (it may contain teflon) and the outside any color you desire. Grease the zerks with a good food grade grease, you should be able to get the name of a supplier from your local baker as their dough mixers use it.A router is a tool for cutting scrolling, fancy edges, and rabbits into wood. The speed ramp allows you to vary your amp load, thereby varing your speed.

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Life is a school. What have you learned? :brian: The greatest danger to our society is apathy, vote in every election!

Brian, thanks for that information. Upon conversation with my Husband yesterday, it seems that he wants to buy a new stainless steel extractor. Time will tell that tale. He sees the new extractor as an investment, sometimes, hee, hee, I need to listen to this man. If we decide to get a new one, guess I will have to see if I can sell this old one, after I have made it "food safe" by sand blasting and painting, greasing the zerks with (that was an interesting word, by the way) food grade grease. That will be a winter time project, should we obtain a new one. I did get a nice stainless steel honey tank from a dude when we were visiting my Daughter a few weeks ago. I can't remember how many gallons it holds, but it is about 36" diameter by 24" tall or so I would venture. I can't recall the capacity he said. It is pretty nice and I think that the price paid was OK, I guess....no clue what things are worth. Awesomely wonderful and greatest of day wishes. Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

jdsq. Now that is interesting, now I am becoming a little curious about this thing. Maybe I should forget doing all the work of refinishing this monster machine and see about selling it and see where that goes.....thoughts. Beautiful and most wonderful day, Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

Brian, thanks for that information. Upon conversation with my Husband yesterday, it seems that he wants to buy a new stainless steel extractor. Time will tell that tale. He sees the new extractor as an investment, sometimes, hee, hee, I need to listen to this man. If we decide to get a new one, guess I will have to see if I can sell this old one, after I have made it "food safe" by sand blasting and painting, greasing the zerks with (that was an interesting word, by the way) food grade grease. That will be a winter time project, should we obtain a new one.

Fixed up it's worth 250-300 dollars if not more.

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I did get a nice stainless steel honey tank from a dude when we were visiting my Daughter a few weeks ago. I can't remember how many gallons it holds, but it is about 36" diameter by 24" tall or so I would venture. I can't recall the capacity he said. It is pretty nice and I think that the price paid was OK, I guess....no clue what things are worth. Awesomely wonderful and greatest of day wishes. Cindi

Sounds like a 25 gallon tank.

BTW: Zerks are the little nipples that a grease gun nossle fits over to grease machinery. In the days before sealed systems there were about 50 zerks on the undercarriage of most cars for greasing the axles and other moving parts...even if they didn't move much.

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Life is a school. What have you learned? :brian: The greatest danger to our society is apathy, vote in every election!